Doorcheck



Jul 10, 1934.

v I D. 5. RIGGINS DOORCHECK Original Filed May 29, 1930 06 for 1115??! 7 73 Hfforw g7 Patented July 10, 1934 1,965,806 PATENT OFFICE DOORCHEGK David E. Riggins Milwaukie, Greg... Refiled for abandoned application Serial No.

457,331, May 29, 1930;

7, 1932, Serial No. 597,392,.

6 Claims.

This invention aims to provide a simple meche anism whereby, through the instrumentality of a cylinder and a piston working in the cylinder, the closing movement of a door or other barrier may be checked.

It is within the province of thedisclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view,

' which will appear as the description proceeds,

the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes may be made in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 shows in elevation, a device constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section wherein parts are in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the cylinder.

The numeral 1 marks a door or other barrier, connected to a frame 2 by a hinge 3; although, for the purpose of the present invention, the part 2 might quite as well be the door, the part 1 being the door frame. 7

A cylinder 4 is held by clamps 5 or otherwise on the door frame 2 and a universal joint 6 is The universal joint 6' mounted on the door 1. may embody a shaft 7 havingreduced ends 8 journaled in bearings 9 on the door 1.

The cylinder 4 is provided at its lower end with a reduced stem 10 having an enlarged foot 11. A bracket 12 is mounted on the stem 10 to rotate, and is supported by the foot 11. A radius arm 14 is hinge'd at 15 to the bracket 12 to swing in a plane parallel to and coincident the axis of the cylinder 4.

The numeral 16 marks a lever which is fulcrumed at 17, inits intermediate portion, on ,the outer end of the radius arm 14, to swing in the same plane with the radius arm 14. The lower end of the lever 16 is pivoted at 18 to the rotatable shaft '7 of the universal joint 6.

The upper end of the lever 16 is hinged at 19 to an arm 20 on a collar 21, the construction being such that the lever 16 can swing parallel to the axis of the cylinder 4 with respect to the arm 20 and the collar 21. When, however, the lever 16 swings transversely of the axis of the cylinder 4 (horizontally in the present instance), then the collar 21 will be rotated.

The collar 21 is secured to the stem 22 of a piston 23 including a head 25 mounted to reciprocate in the cylinder 4. Any desired number of ports 24 are extended through the piston head This application March,

Renewed December 25. A combined torsion and compression spring 26is located in the cylinder 4 about the piston stem One end of the spring 26 is anchored at 27' in the upper end of the cylinder 4, and the opposite end of the spring 26 is anchored at 28 in the piston head 25. V

A guide 29, in the form of a rod, is mounted forlongitudinal adjustment in the stem 22. of the piston 23, and is threaded at 30 into the upper end of the stem of the piston. The guide 29 is supplied at its upper end'with an accessible turning button 32. A nut 33 is threaded. on the guide 29 and engages the upper end of the stem 22 to hold the guide 29 in any position to which it may have been adjusted longitudinally, through the instrumentality of the turning button 32. The guide 29 has a stop 34 on its lower end, which limits the downward movement of a valve 35 mounted to slide on the lower portion of the guide 29, toward and away from the piston head 25. The valve 35 has ports 36 which may be made to coincide more or less with the ports 24 in the piston head 25.

The cylinder 4 contains a fluid, which may be either air, or a liquid such as oil. It will be presupposed, first, that the cylinder 4 contains liquid.

When the door I is opened, the lever 16 swings vertically, with the radius arm 14 as a fulcrum,

vertical movement in the lever 16 taking place because the cylinder 4 is offset with respect to the hinge 3, as shown in Fig. 1. When the lever 16 tilts, as aforesaid, the collar 21' is raised, and the piston structure 23 is raised, the collar 21 being secured to the stem 22 of the piston structure. Moreover, the entire piston structure 23 is rotated in the cylinder 4, asthe piston structure is raised. The spring 26 not only is compressed, but is put under torsion, the spring, thus, being made doubly effective in forcing the piston structure 23 downwardly.

As the piston head 25 is raised, the liquid inthe cylinder 4.ab ove the head 25 moves downwardly through the. ports 24 of the piston head 25.' When the door I is released, the spring 26 reacts and forces the piston structure 23 downwardly. The liquid in the cylinder 4, below the piston head 25, flows upwardly through the ports 24 in the piston head, and carries the valve 35 upwardly to a partially closed position. The liquid now flows upwardly, through the ports 36 of the valve 35 and through the ports 24 of the pis ton head 25, the door closing slowly. When the door is closed, the valve 35 slides downwardly on the guide 29 and rests on the stop 34, the parts being restored to the positions of Fig. 2.

The guide 29 is polygonal throughout the greater portion of its length, although it can turn for adjustment in the stem 22. Because the guide 29 is of polygonal cross section, the valve 35 cannot rotate independently of the guide 29. The

operator can back off the nut 23, thereby releasing the guide 29 for longitudinal adjustment, and the guide can be rotated by means of the turning button 32, to bring the ports 36 and 24 more or less into registration, an observation which will be understood readily when Fig. 3 of the drawing is noted, and after the necessary adjustment has been efiected, the nut 33 can be set. down again into the position of Fig. 2. In this way, the operator can regulate the speed of. the liquid as it flows upwardly through the ports 24 of the piston head 25 and can regulate, consequently, the speed with which the door 1 closes.

In the event that air is contained in the cylinder 4, instead of a liquid, then the operator rotates the guide 29 until the ports 36 and 24 are entirely out of registration. Moreover, by this procedure, he can regulate the space between the valve and the piston head 25, the time for the closing of the valve 35 being regulated accordingly. When the valve 35 moves upwardly, it closes the ports 24 of the piston head 25 completely, but not hermetically, and aircan leak slowly through the ports 24 as the piston head one direction, the spring means comprising a torsion spring connected at its "ends to the cylinder and to the piston, a lever hinged at one end to the piston to impart rotation and longitudinal movement to the piston, anchorage means on the other end of the lever, and means for fulcrurning the lever intermediate its ends.

2. A door check having in combination an upright cylinder closed at its lower end, a perforated piston within said cylinder having a stem projecting through the upper end of said cylinder,

a check valve for partially closing said piston openings in a door closing direction, a spring between said piston and the upper end of said cylinder, an anchorage attachable to the door being operated at a point approximately on a level with the lower end of the cylinder, and an inclined lever pivotally attached to said anchorage and to the upper end of said stem.

3. A door check having in combination an up-- right cylinder closed at its lower end, a'perforated tween said piston and the upper end of said cylinder, an anchorage attachable to the door being operated at a point approximately on a level with the lower end of the cylinder, an inclined lever pivotally attached to said anchorage and to the upper end of said stem, and a radius arm rotatably and hingedly attached to the lower end of said cylinder and to an intermediate point on said'lever.

4. In a door check, the combination of an upright cylinder having a piston slidably and rotatably mounted therein, said piston having a stem projecting upwardly at the upper end of said cylinder, said piston having ports through which fluid may pass between opposite sides thereof, a check valve for restricting the flow of fluid through said ports in one direction of the piston movement, a' torsion spring between said piston and cylinder adapted to urge said piston downwardly, an anchorage attachable to the door being operated, an inclined lever hinged at its opposite ends between said anchorage and the upper end of said stem, and a radius arm hinged to an intermediate point on said lever and to'the lower end of said cylinder, said radius arm and lever remaining in the same vertical plane at all times.

5. In a door check, the combination of an inclined lever having a universal anchorage connection at one end to a door adjacent to its hinge and having its opposite end hinged to a slidable stem, a hydraulic cylinder having a piston attached to said stem and having a fluid by-pass formed therein, a check valve for restricting the flow of fluid through said by-pass, a radius arm hinged at one end to an intermediate point on said lever and universally connected along the axis of said cylinder, and a spring within said cylinder between its stem end and piston adapted to move said piston downwardly against the restriction imposed by said check valve and thereby increase the distance between the axis of said cylinder and the vertical axis of said anchorage.

6. In a door check, the combination of a stationary cylinder arranged to be mounted on a door casing, a piston in said cylinder having a rod projecting therefrom, a long arm secured to said rod and pivoted between said rod and the door being operated for imparting a rotary and sliding movement to said rod as the door is operated, and a short arm pivotally connected to the cylinder near its major axis and hingedly connected to an intermediate portion of said long arm in a manner to provide a floating fulcrum for said long arm and to increase the sliding efiect 139 produced by the operation of said door upon said piston.

DAVID E. RIGGINS. 

